Misdemeanors strain TYC/ Petty offenders crowd scandal-ridden system

[Joanne98]

Misdemeanors strain TYC
Petty offenders crowd scandal-ridden system
http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_5479580,00.html
By Paul J. Weber / Associated Press
April 12, 2007

DALLAS - One kid missed curfew, another skipped school. Those transgressions helped land both in Texas' scandal-ridden juvenile prisons.

They are among about 700 teenagers serving time in the troubled Texas Youth Commission for misdemeanor crimes - ranging from graffiti to marijuana possession to assault - according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

But as charges are filed and top officials resign amid allegations that TYC staff members sexually and physically abused inmates, some lawmakers and critics say reform efforts should include ridding Texas' juvenile prisons of petty offenders.

On Wednesday, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted to bar courts from sending children to TYC for misdemeanors as part of an agency overhaul.

''It's supposed to be seen as the last resort for kind of the worst of the worst,'' said Austin defense attorney Kristin Etter, who handles juvenile cases. ''Unfortunately, when you look at the numbers, it's clear it's not a last resort.''

Four of five misdemeanor offenders in the state's juvenile prisons are black or Hispanic - a ratio some say indicates racial bias.

Last month, media across the country spotlighted the case of Shaquanda Cotton, a black 15-year-old with no prior criminal record who served a year for shoving a hall monitor at her school. The same judge, meanwhile, placed on probation a white girl who burned down her family's home.

Advocates rallied around Cotton as a symbol of much of what is wrong with the state's juvenile justice system - a place they say was intended for serious criminals, not kids who steal from vending machines.

According to the data reviewed by The AP:


About 4,700 inmates, ages 10 to 21, are committed to Texas' 13 juvenile prisons. About 15 percent are there for misdemeanor offenses.

Blacks and Hispanics make up 85 percent of the misdemeanor offenders, but 76 percent of the overall juvenile prison population.

Assault and marijuana possession were the two misdemeanor offenses most often resulting in prison stays. Others included graffiti, disorderly conduct, prostitution, municipal curfew violation, burglary of a coin-operated machine, failure to attend school, dog fighting, public lewdness and possession or purchase of alcohol.
County-level authorities, who get the first crack at rehabilitating local trouble makers, argue such snapshots don't tell the entire story.

They say kids imprisoned for misdemeanor crimes are chronic offenders who repeatedly failed the county's most dogged efforts to set them straight. These steps include being sent back to their family on probation, counseling, alternative schools, boot camps and short stays in local detention centers.

Misdemeanor offenders sent to TYC in 2005 crossed paths with the law an average of five times. That could include not only arrests, but also missing a counseling session, being out after curfew or other contacts with police.

''A lot of these kids have taken three bites from the apple,'' said Mark Fischer, president-elect of the juvenile section for the State Bar of Texas.

Melissa Sickmund, a spokesman for the National Center of Juvenile Justice, said that reasoning isn't good enough. Sickmund, whose Pennsylvania-based group researches juvenile justice trends nationwide, said a better alternative for ''lightweight'' offenders is community-based, non-residential programs and electronic monitoring for supervision.

''To put the failure completely on the kids is ... unfair,'' Sickmund said. ''Maybe the system has failed them.''

The TYC sex scandal erupted amid reports the agency and prosecutors took no action on allegations of abuse by two top administrators at the West Texas State School. Inmates at other facilities are now stepping forward with similar claims.

Amid the fallout, the Legislature dissolved the agency's governing board and top officials were forced to resign or fired. Jay Kimbrough, a conservator assigned by Gov. Rick Perry to lead the agency's dramatic overhaul, has moved to fire prison guards with felony records and shrink staff-to-inmate ratios.

Kimbrough said at least a dozen other states prohibit juvenile misdemeanor offenders from being sent to youth prisons. He said he's encouraged by discussion of a bill in the state Legislature that would apply the same standard in Texas.

But what most worries Kimbrough is that, to borrow Fischer's expression, not all low-level offenders are taking the same number of bites from the apple.

Juvenile correctional resources and community outreach programs are far more available in more populous counties that include cities like Houston and Dallas than in rural areas. For instance, there are only 32 county-run detention centers serving the state's 254 counties.

Rural and metropolitan areas also share the same problems of overcrowding and underfunding when it comes to counseling and rehabilitative programs. Kimbrough and others worry that some judges are sending some first- or second-time petty offenders straight to prison when community-based alternatives are full or not available.

''Where I live should not determine whether or not I go to TYC,'' Kimbrough said. ''It should be the offense.''

Family wealth can be another factor. Judges often prefer to send youthful offenders to privately run schools and residential centers - some costing upward of $4,000 or more a month.

''I doubt you will find more than 20-30 kids (in TYC) whose parents have any semblance of wealth or prosperity,'' said Allan Hubbard, a spokesman for the Lamar County district attorney's office.

It was Hubbard's office that prosecuted Cotton, who was released from a state prison 300 miles from her East Texas home last month. Hubbard said prosecutors offered Cotton probation, but her mother wouldn't let her plea to a felony count of pushing a teacher's aide.

Hubbard said Cotton's sentence can't be compared with that of the white arsonist, whose aunt agreed to supervise her probation.

''Shaquanda did not deserve to go to TYC,'' Hubbard said. ''And we all freely admit that. But when the dust cleared, there's no other options.''

Isela Gutierrez, coordinator for the Texas Coalition Advocating Justice for Juveniles, said judges are more likely to send kids to prison if they have gang affiliations or a fractured family structure.

About 46 percent of misdemeanor offenders are gang members, records show. Many came from single-parent households.

Gutierrez said that's another reason why counties need more counseling and community-based rehabilitation programs for minor criminals. One bill filed this session would provide $2.2 million annually for community programs aimed at chronic misdemeanor offenders in the state's four largest counties, which account for 59 percent of misdemeanor offenders in TYC custody.

Gutierrez said she's troubled by those who suggest that sending chronic, low-level offenders to prison is appropriate because they've failed in other, less restrictive, settings.

''My response to that is, we don't have the right kind of tools in our local toolboxes,'' she said.


Brownwood TYC facility in the news


The week of April 2, the TYC released more than 550 inmates, including 66 from the Brownwood facilities. Of those 66, only one was from Brown County.

On March 30, a female inmate alleged she was sexually assaulted. The Brown County Sheriff's Office transferred the case to a task force handling TYC issues.

On March 15 corrections officer Dusty Ogle, 47, was arrested for allegedly using excessive force on a 17-year-old female inmate and lying about it in a follow-up report.

On March 14, former employee Barry Ransberger was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting an adult inmate in 2005 while he was working at the Middleton Unit outside Abilene. Ransberger left the Middleton Unit and was hired in June 2006 to oversee juvenile females at the Youth Commission facility in Brownwood. He worked there five months and quit.
Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex in Brownwood


Unit I
Opened: 1970

Staff: 347

Inmates: Budgeted for 338 offenders, 120 of whom are female

Ages: 10-21

Budget: $12.8 million


Unit II
Opened: 1970

Staff: 150

Inmates: Budgeted for 109 female offenders

Ages: 10-21

Budget: $5.5 million


Source: Texas Youth Commission

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